Wine co-ops prove to be a highly competitive solution

Wine co-operatives have proven to be resilient during recessionary trading as well as successful businesses when the times are good.

Their ability to pool resources and guarantee sales can make them a useful, if not crucial solution for producers both in Europe and elsewhere.

Hence, the drinks business has looked closely the performance of these operations worldwide, in this, the International Year of the Co-operative, according to the United Nations.

Writing in the April edition of the magazine, Elizabeth Gabay MW pointes out that co-operatives produce around 50% of all French wine, and 30% of German, and began to form from 1868 onwards after crises of overproduction and phylloxera, then two world wars.